


Ilvermorny Year One: The Lost Witch

by kadarriusjames



Series: Ilvermorny [1]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 08:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12272580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadarriusjames/pseuds/kadarriusjames
Summary: After learning he's a wizard, a young Mississippi boy discovers a whole new world and the dark history that comes along with it.





	1. The First Letter

It was a hot August day. The Waller Creek Journal, a flimsy daily newspaper that circulated to the few hundred citizens of Waller Creek, Mississippi, had declared it the hottest day in the last 100 years. So hot in fact, the mailman realized halfway through his route that the envelopes were unsealing themselves under the direct heat. A heat so intense that all the stores closed their doors as their refrigerators and freezers could not operate. Humidity levels so high that the adults hovered around the air conditioning vents of their offices and children all were absent from the streets as their parents feared they might be hit a with a heat stroke by even attempting a bike ride. Everyone everywhere was avoiding the unavoidable sweat, the intolerable humidity and of course, the big blaring sun. But then, there was Miles Cassidy.

Miles felt no heat. He dropped not one drop of sweat. You see, Miles had escaped the heat. Quite an amazing feat of a boy no older than 10, well "almost 11" as he would say. How did he do this? The same way he escaped everything "not so good" as he would put it, at the library. Every day. Every single day. Miles found his way to the Quentin L. Roosevelt Community Library, named for a very distant relative of Theodore Roosevelt who apparently attributed a great deal to Waller Creek's founding sometime in the 1800's. Once there, Miles walks past the endless volumes of encyclopedias, historical texts, and other books libraries are required to have, and straight to his happy place, the fiction section. To be more specific, Miles loved the fantasy stories. He would sit for hours and hours, almost to the library's closing, reading tales of dragons, talking trees and flying beasts.

Miss. Sallie Sweeting, the librarian and probably Miles favorite person in the world, had introduced him to the section when he grew tired of the tattered generic tales his school provided. Upon handing him the first magical story, Miles questioned "What's so special about these books?" Miss Sweeting explained to him that the books came from people with big imaginations, like Miles, and that they told stories of anything and everything. Like a fish, Miles was hooked. He usually being the librarian's only patron, besides old Mrs. Hammish, who only came in to check her email once a week, Miss Sweeting and Miles grew very close. She also became an unintentional ear to Miles home problems, which he vented about in between the chapters of his favorite book, "The Dragon King of Malthazar"

Miles was the youngest child of Wanda Cassidy, a hard working single mother of two who was very strict and did not condone any reading of secular texts among many other things. His 17-year-old brother, Trey, was quite the tinkerer, despite his limited education. Trey continuously got into trouble for taking things apart and putting them back together in his own way. It started small but eventually resulted in him rewiring the school's bell system, thus creating chaos within the school and getting Trey asked to leave, permanently. Trey now spent his day knocking on their mother's old car, in hopes that it will start back running and she can stop asking for rides to work, as she saw the act as "desperate"

Feeling like an outcast amongst his family, Miles considered the library his home. He ate there. He slept there. And now that school was out for the summer, he spent all his time there. Miss Sweeting would often watch Miles as he read and wish she could do more to help him. She hoped that he, like many of the heroes he read about every day, would have his turning point. Have his day of reckoning. That he would experience the day that would change his life. A librarian can dream ...can't she?

The sun set on Waller County's hottest day and Miss Sweeting began her closing ritual, which included finding Miles and making him go home. She flipped off light switch after light switch and check shelf after shelf, all the time making her way to Miles' corner of the library. As she approached she noticed something rather...odd. Miss Sweeting would usually find Miles holding his book up to a nearby window, reading by the light cast by the nearby streetlight. But tonight she found Miles sitting on the ground, reading the Dragon King, for the millionth time but the fluorescent light above his head was still lit, despite all the others in the entire library being off. Miss Sweeting stood in awe of the electrical mystery.

"Miles." Said Miss Sweeting.

Miles looked up at Miss Sweeting and the light went out like the others. "Yes, Miss Sweeting?" Miles answered.

Miss Sweeting, blinking uncontrollably at what she just witnessed, tried to gather her thoughts.

"Is it time to go?" Miles asked, now curious about the state of his favorite person.

Miss Sweeting , finally shaking herself out of her trance, answered Miles with a solid "Yes."

Miles gets off the ground and attempts to put the book on the shelf, but Miss Sweeting, still heavily contemplating calling the city electrician for an emergency call, ran over and grabbed Miles before he could properly place it.

"But Miss Sweeting, what about the book?!" Miles shouted as he was being hurried out of the library.

"Just take it home. I trust you" Miss Sweeting said as she dragged Miles towards the door, only stopping momentarily to grab her purse. Once outside the library, Miss Sweeting bided Miles a good night and hurried off to her car. Miles laughed at her rushing, as he had not ever seen it before. Miles looked at the cover of his favorite copy of the Dragon King as he could already picture himself reading it that night.

Miles hopped on his old rusty bike and began to pedal his way home through the sleepy town. As he approached the red dirt road he lived on, he noticed birds flying above. As Miles inspected them closer, he realized that they were owls. Owls, no strangers to the rural south, did not scare him; however owls flying above his home did start a bit of wonder in the young boy. In all the books Miles had read owls were always noble creatures. They always brought about a change or some profound message. Miles could not help but think that the same was true for real life. He paid no attention to the road he pedaled along as he was focused on the owls.

He pedaled and pedaled until the owls flew out of sight. Miles stopped his bike and gazed upon the night sky. As usual, he would always stop before he turned to pedal to the house and wonder, "what's up there?" Miles lingered on his star-filled thoughts for a moment longer then made his way home. Him calling it home being more of a gesture than a fact. Miles and his family had bounced around from apartments to houses to even their car once, all in search of this thing called home. Miles had abandoned the idea until he discovered the library. But, he still held hope that his brother and mother could find their homes one day.

Miles parked the bike closer to the dilapidated mobile home in which they now resided and then he turned and walked up the rotting wooden steps. Inside the small space, Trey sat at the kitchen doing his usual tinkering, this time on an alternator.

"Where's Momma?" Miles inquired.

Trey continued to screw and hammer on the part and Miles started to become irritated from being ignored.

"Trey, I asked you a question," Miles said trying to remain firm in his voice.

Despite Miles firmer statement, Trey continued to tinker and Miles became more irritated. He knew Trey heard him. He knew that Trey was ignoring him...again. Miles was a very calm person, as most avid readers are, but there was one thing he could not tolerate: being ignored. And Trey knew it. Miles continue to boil as Trey tapped away at the part with the tools. Just as he was making the final adjustments with the screwdriver-

"Ow!" Trey yelled as he jumped to his feet and snapping Miles out of anger filled glare. "The damn thing shocked me!"

Miles began to chuckle as his brother sucked his shocked finger. Trey gave a Miles a hard look and the chuckles stopped. Trey stomped hard over to his little brother with a face full of anger, as he too had a pet peeve: being humiliated...especially by his little brother.

"What's funny?" Trey growled.

Miles feigned fear for a second and then said "This," as he delivered a forceful shin kick to his brother and then proceeded to run for his life. As Miles made his way towards the door, it flew open and he stopped in his tracks. Momma was home.

"What's going on in here?" she asked not blinking an eye.

"Nothing" the boys said in unison.

Wanda delivered a hefty "Mmmmhmmm" as she closed the door behind her. She drug her feet as she walked over to the nearby counter. She sat her seemingly 100-pound bag on the counter with a sigh and begin to scan through it until she pulled out a stack of mail.

"Bill" she said as she tossed the envelope across the counter. "Bill" went another across the counter. "Bill" went the third as it this one went overshot the counter and hit the floor. Wanda continued with this routine until she reached a tan brown square envelope. Miles noticed it stuck out from the white rectangular ones scattered across the floor and counter. Wanda's eyes grew wide and large as she scanned the envelope front to back.

"Momma what's wrong?" Miles asked.

Wanda ripped the envelope down the middle and Miles swear he saw a flash of green dust rise from the two pieces.

"Nothing but the devil trying to get in my house" Wanda shouted. "You can't have my babies" she shouted with another tear to the envelope. She continued to tear and tear until the envelope was nothing more than scraps of paper. She crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it away. She looked at Miles with a crazed look on her face and then she grabbed him by the shoulders.

"You stay outta that mailbox! You hear me?!" she said staring deep into Miles' eyes.

"Ok Momma, but why?" Miles attempted to ask.

"Just stay out of it!" She said "And that goes for you too" she added while giving Trey a cold look.

Wanda released Miles from her clutches and leaves the room. Trey walks over to console his shaken little brother. Still with questions lingering in his eyes, Miles looks over at his brother and hugs him tight.

"It's alright man" Trey said with doubt in his voice.

Miles lets go of his brother, grabbed his backpack from the nearby couch and scurries off to his room. Trey walks back over to the table and returns to tinkering on the alternator. In her room, unbeknownst to her sons, Wanda knelt in front of her window and prayed to God to protect her from the evil that the letter held. But while she prayed, she also angered. She grew angrier and angrier as she begged God, she pleaded with God, every single day that this horrible event would not come. Yet, it did. It sill happened.

"Haven't I done enough Lord?" she asked with tears streaming down her face "Did I not pray enough? Did I not fast enough? Was my sin so great, that my son couldn't be saved?"

God's silence haunted her. She wanted answers. She wanted to know! But there were no answers. There were no reasons. It was then Wanda knew what she had to do. She had to react. She had to handle the situation because God wouldn't. Because God was silent. Because he was ignoring her. She had to take the matter into her own hands, just like last time. Last time, she made it go away. Last time, there were no problems. Last time, she was in control. The silence was a confirmation for Wanda. Confirmation that she had to make it all go away. Confirmation she was in control. Confirmation that in this situation...she was God. She rose from her knees and sat on the corner of the bed. She smiled devilishly as the moon illuminated her face. Her mind was working. She had a plan.


	2. Between Brothers

The Waller Creek Journal decided it would be easier to declare the whole month as record breaking. The daily temperatures continued to rise at least two degrees each day. It was finally Friday and the temperature was reportedly 110. Wanda sat on the couch in the living room in front of a large box fan.

"The devil is the only reason for this type of heat. He is so busy" she said casting a hard glare upon Miles.

A few seconds later, the high pitched horn honking of Ms. Sue Allen in her compact car broke the silence of the house.

"Ms. Allen out there, with her late behind" Wanda scoffed as she rose from the couch, "Boys!"

Miles looked up from the Dragon King and Trey emerged from the nearby hallway.

"Trey, finished fixing that car today and you," she said pointing her finger over Miles' book "stay outta that mailbox, you hear?"

Miles nodded as Wanda withdrew her finger. Another high pitched honk came from outside.

"I'm coming!" Wanda shouted as she grabbed her bags off the couch and headed out the door, but not before giving Trey another strong message.

"Fix. That. Car."

Miles returned to his book as the door slammed. Trey began dragging his feet into the kitchen, going through cabinets in search of food. Miles closed the book as he couldn't hold his questions any longer.

"Why can't I check the mail anymore? And why we are getting so many square envelopes? What is going on? Miles inquired as he slammed down his book and stood to face Trey.

"I don't know man" Trey answered making sure not to make eye contact with Miles.

"Trey, I know you know. I can feel it."

Trey sits Miles down in the chair and then sits across from him.

"Listen, man, it will be a lot easier on you if just forget about those letters. Forget they came and that you ever saw them. It is a lot less painful this way...okay?" said Trey still not making eye contact with Miles.

"I still don't understand" Miles whimpered.

"Some things, you never will." said Trey as he left the table.

Even more discouraged than before, Miles could not finish reading and decided that he should return the book before the library closed for the weekend. He left home and began walking down the dirt road in front of his house. He paused at the mailbox. He stared at it with a heart full of rage but a mind full of curiosity. What was so bad about those letters? He thought. He shook off the thoughts and began his trek towards town.

Trey watched his little brother walk down the road and began to reminisce. He remembered being that young and carefree. He remembered living in a much different place and being much happier. He remembered when their father was still alive and then he remembered when he died. He also remembered soon after, square envelopes addressed to him began to show in the mail. Most sadly of all, he remembered what his mother did to make them stop coming. Trey stops his memories and begins to rub the palm of his right hand. He lifts the hood of the rusty old car and then begins his tinkering. Literally screwing, bolting and tapping away all his bad memories.

Miles finally reached the town, drenched in sweat, and wishing that he had of remembered to take his bike. The usually semi-busy town center was just as empty as it had been all month. Miles walked past the small shops towards the library which sat on the corner. Just as he crossed in front of Garvin's Grocery, he felt a sharp whack in the back of the head. He looked down to see a crush soda can on the sidewalk behind him. His heart sank to the soles of his shoes.

He looked up to see just what he feared, the Barrel boys. The Barrel family owned Barrel Bottling, Waller Creek's largest employer. The Barrel family was incredibly wealthy by rural south standards. Besides the bottling plant, they also owned the Waller Creek Journal and most of the land throughout Waller Creek. Bradley Barrel and his wife Bettie were two of the nicest people in Waller Creek as they did not let their fortune go to their heads. Their sons, however, we're a different story.

They had three sons: Barry, Bolton and Bruce. Barry, the oldest, was a slinky teenager who hung out with his younger brothers as they were the only ones who could tolerate his terrible attitude and the wheezing sound coming from his mouth breathing. Bolton, the middle child who preferred to be called Bolt, was the same age as Miles and the self-proclaimed leader of his brothers. Then there was Bruce. He was a small tike of only five or six, but he had taken down children twice his age and three times his size.

The Barrel brothers were not friends with any children in town as most saw them as bullies who bragged about how wealthy they were. They were especially not fond of Miles as before he moved to Waller Creek, Bolt was the smartest kid in the school. Every test, project and report Miles would always score a 99 or 100 while the highest Bolt could achieve was a 94 or 95. While for most, five points is not a big deal but for Bolt, five points made him second and Bolt Barrel was never second at anything.

Miles stood staring at the Barrels on their bikes. Bolt glared back at him with his eyes tight.

"Who threw that?!" Miles shouted.

"I did. It's hot out. Thought that you could use a good ole Barrel soda," Bolt laughed.

His brothers began to laugh as Miles stood on the sidewalk fuming with anger. He could feel himself getting hotter and hotter. Miles bent down and picked up the crushed can.

"Awww. Looksth like he wantsth to play catchsh" said Barry with his terrible lisp from braces. The Barrels burst out in laughter again. As they chuckled away, the can flew and hit Bolt in the center of his forehead, knocking him off his bike. Barry's and Bruce's jaw dropped. Miles stood on the sidewalk in shock. He barely put any energy behind the can but somehow it flew across the street with enough force to send Bolt flying off his bike.

"Why are you two idiots still sitting here? Get him!" demanded Bolt laying on the ground clutching his head in pain. The other Barrels immediately sped off behind Miles. Miles ran and ran to escape them. He turned the corner of Maple Avenue. Then cut through the town square. He hopped a small fence that surrounded the grass area. Barry made his bike hop over the fence with ease but Bruce hit the one foot tall structure and went flying off his bike. Two down, one to go Miles thought as he began to run down a small alley between Miss Sandra's Clothing store and the Waller Creek Café.

Miles saw the back door to the café and decided to run in as Barry obviously wouldn't ride a bike through the restaurant, would he? Miles hung a sharp right to the small loading area for the café and ran up to the door. It was locked. Miles looked around for a trashcan or stack of boxes or anything he might could hide behind, but the loading area was bare. He could hear Barry's tires coming down the alley. Miles began to panic and covered his face as he awaited the beating from Barry. The tires came to a loud screech. This was it. Miles was dead.

"Where'd he go?" Barry asked aloud. Miles looked in between his fingers to see Barry standing in front of him. He quickly closed them back out of fear of making eye contact with Barry's fists.

"I thaw you run down here!" Barry shouted "You can'th hide"

Miles removed his hands from in front of his face. Barry was standing only inches from him, yet he was looking around as if he didn't see him. Could he not see him? Barry threw down the bike and walked passed the seemingly invisible Miles and went up to the door of the café.

"Dang. I'tsth locked" Barry said kicking the door. Miles watching Barry look around the loading area without blinking an eye. He couldn't see him. Miles was completely invisible to Barry. Wheezing at double the pace as usual, Barry climbed back on the bike.

"I'd hide too losther! You're justh made becausth Bolt'sth going away to a boarding thschool for thmart people and you're thuck here in Waller Creek!" shouted Barry as he slowly walked the biked down the alley.

Miles watched him until he was out of sight. Miles walked out to the alley and jumped as he saw Barry still straddling his bike in the opposite direction. Miles stood there for a second as the boy seemed to be crying.

"Bolt getsth everything. Nothing ever happensth to me" Barry cried leaning over the handle bars. Miles almost went up to comfort him but then he heard a voice in the distance,

"Barry! Where are you stupid?! We're gonna be late for lunch!"

Barry wiped away his tears and began peddling towards Bolt's shouting. Miles turned and walked in the opposite direction with a whole new understanding of the Barrel brothers as well as another question he needed answering. What school was Bolt going to in the fall?

Miles's mind was still churning at full pace as he reached the library. He walked in to see Miss Sweeting atop a ladder, shelving books on the top shelf.

"Hey Miss Sweeting." said Miles sending a shock to Miss Sweeting who dropped all the books, slid down the ladder and then landed on her bottom.

"Miss Sweeting, are you alright?" asked Miles as he ran over to help her up.

"Yes. I'm fine Miles" she said dusting herself off, "You haven't been to the library in so long I started to wonder if you had disappeared to Malthazar"

Miles laughed at the reference to his favorite book, but then he remembered a part of the story.

"Miss Sweeting, what would you say if strange things began to happen to you?" Miles asked.

"What type of things Miles?" she asked picking up the scattered books.

"You know like in the Dragon King. Before the king he was king. He was just a regular person and then out of the blue he knew how to use the sword and how to summon the dragon gems and how to speak the dragon language. Thing after thing kept happening to him until one day, he was king!" Miles exclaimed.

"Yes Miles, I've read this story." said Miss Sweeting, hesitantly climbing back up the ladder.

"Well Miss Sweeting, that's happening to me." He said proudly, "I'm becoming the Dragon King"

Miss Sweeting laughed as she shelved the books. Miles did not see the humor in his statement.

"Miss Sweeting, what else could it be?" Miles pleaded, " I mean the letters, the weird stuff happening, what else could be happening to me"

She finished the shelving and made it back down the ladder. She walked over to Miles holding his worn copy of the book. She took it in her hands and redirected Miles' focus to her. She recognized those eyes, they were similar to the ones that walked into her library six months ago looking for just as many answers then as now.

"Miles, do you know why I suggested you read the Dragon King the first time you came to the library?" Miss Sweeting asked.

Miles nodded and told her "Because it's about people like me, with big imaginations."

"Exactly. Big,big, big imaginations. Bigger than all of Waller Creek, right?" she asked as Miles smiled along.

"Well, sometimes when our imaginations get too big, they begin to cause problems in our real lives. We start to think imaginary things are real. Miles, the Dragon King is an imaginary story, it is not real nor are any of the things in it" Miss Sweeting explained, "It is just a story, to make people feel good. To make them a little less lonely. To help them make it. That's why I gave you this book Miles, I want you to make it"

She gave Miles a tight hug and left him standing in the center of the library. Miles laid the book on a nearby table and turned to leave the library. He felt anything but good, less lonely or like he was going to make it. He walked out of the library, not knowing if he would ever return. The one person he thought would make sense of what was happening in his life, disappointed him just like everyone else. Miles drug his feet along the sun-drenched sidewalk, with even more questions than before. The most important now being: Did any remember it's his eleventh birthday tomorrow?

Back on the dirt road, a stranger walked towards Miles' house. She was dressed in all black and her pointy but floppy hat continued to bounce it's way in front of her sweating face.

"It's hotter than spotted slug's breath in the winter down here" she shouted as she flipped the point of her hat out of her face. "How do people live down here? Only No-majs would subject themselves to such horror"

She continued to rattle off about the heat of Mississippi as she approached the rusty old mailbox marked Cassidy.

"I can never remember how to work these overly complicated things. Damn No-majs. Why can't everyone just use owls?"

Trey emerged from the house carrying a large glass of ice water. He almost spit out the water as he saw a woman kicking the mailbox at the edge of the yard. Even more perplexing was the fact the woman was dressed like a witch in the middle of August. She had on the whole get up, black dress, long black robe even the pointy hat that must have wilted in the summer heat. The witch eventually got tired of kicking the mailbox and ripped the hat from her head and began stomping it into the red dirt while cursing quite heavily. Her stomping and swinging of her arms finally opened the mailbox and the witch dropped to her knees in thankfulness.

After a few seconds of praising she rose to her feet and began rummaging through a leather bag that must have fallen off her shoulders at some point during her assault of the mailbox. The bag had I.S.W.W. Mail Fleet stamped on the side in big letters surrounding an envelope. The witch dug around the bag until she pulled a giant stack of envelopes out of the bag. She began stuffing the mailbox until it could barely close. After stuffing the last envelope in, she picked up her dusty hat and began walking away. Trey dropped the glass of water and took off behind the witch.

He ran and ran but when he reached the road there was nothing but a cloud of dust. It was as if the witch had blown away. After the dust had cleared, Trey looked down at the road and his eyes grew two times in size as he saw a few broom straws scattered about. He picked up one of the broom straws and inspected it and then dropped it a few seconds later. It must be the heat. Maybe he had worked on the car too long? Trey decided to go in the house out of the heat, hoping that it would calm his mind. He began to walk towards the house but not before stopping at the mailbox. He wanted to open it but he knew his mother and he knew what she was capable of.

He walked away from the mailbox. But it was as if it was calling his name. He physically felt drawn to it. "But what about his mother's warning to Miles?" he thought. He turned around and looked at the mailbox. He found himself walking towards it. "What about what she did to me for opening the mailbox when I was 11?" he thought still walking. "Will she do that to Miles if she catches him?" he thought as he stopped in front of the mailbox. "I won't let her." he decided as he reached to open the mailbox.

"Trey!" Miles shouted as he saw his brother reaching for the forbidden mailbox. "What are you doing? You heard Mama this morning."

"Look Miles, there's something in here and it's for you." Trey said grabbing Miles and raising him to eye level. "It could change your whole life."

"But what about what you said this morning?" Miles asked as his feet dangled in the air .

"I was wrong. I was scared. I didn't want..." Trey said hesitantly as he lowered his brother to the ground, "I didn't want to get your hopes up. I wanted to make sure I was right and I was. Miles we have to open the mailbox"

"Ok we'll open it together," said Miles reaching for the door of the mailbox.

Trey reached out his hand and placed it on the rusty door of the mailbox. The brothers took a deep sigh and pulled open the door. In an instant, a flood of envelopes spilled out onto the dirt road. Trey and Miles attempted to scoop them up in their arms. After a few seconds the boys had an armful and began to waddle back into their house, a few envelopes spilling from their arms along the way.

"All these are for me?" Miles asked with an ear to ear smile.

"Every single one buddy" Trey replied with an equally large smile.

They went into the house and Miles began opening the coveted envelopes. One by one, he read them all despite the fact they all said the same thing. Trey and Miles danced around in the pile of opened letters celebrating the news. Unbeknownst to them, their celebration was about to come to an end.


	3. Blood Signature

The Mississippi sun finally set. It was pitch black along the dirt road as Wanda limped towards her home. She was furious, exhausted and most importantly not in the mood...for anything. She could not believe Sue Allen had the nerve to leave the nursing home before she could get to the car, leaving her to walk seven miles in the 100-degree heat. Wanda pondered as she walked. How did this happen?

The thought kept circulating through her head constantly as she drug her bruised and bloody feet down the dirt road. How in the hell did she end up here? She wondered as she continued walking while drenched in sweat from the day's heat and the night's humidity. She finally made it to the small patch of land she rented. She paused at the entrance to the driveway. She placed her hand on her hip and sighed with disgust as she looked at the rusty 20-year-old car parked in front of the nearly dilapidated single-wide trailer in which her family now lived.

She had done everything right. She got married before having children. She went to college. She made good grades. She tried to be a good mother and most importantly she worshiped God. She gave her God everything. She knelt down on her knees night after night and begged her God to change her life. She pleaded with him to save her sons. She prayed and prayed and nothing. Nothing but more upsets. Nothing but more drama. Nothing but more bills. Nothing but more of what she had already enough of.

Wanda decided to give her conflicted thoughts a rest and head inside the house. As she walked across the yard, every occasional step she would hear the crunching sound similar to stepping on a piece of newspaper. She ignored it but a few steps later, there it was again. She had just walked seven miles in 100-degree weather so it was quite possible that she was hallucinating, so she ignored the sound a few more times. Finally, as she attempted to climb the rotten steps to enter the trailer, one of the steps snapped in half, sending Wanda flying backward only to land flat on her back.

The hard fall left Wanda breathless for a few seconds. She coughed hard for a minute trying to regain her breath. She rolled over on her side ,still trying to capture enough wind to breathe,and that;s when she saw it. The envelope. All of the envelopes. They were everywhere. She rose to her knees then eventually her feet and looked out onto the yard. The gold writing on the envelopes was reflected by the yellow light of the single light bulb on the front porch. They formed a glittering trail between the mailbox and the front door.

Wanda began to hyperventilate. She thought she had more time. She thought the devil was going to spare her a little time. That's all she needed. But she had to do it now. She had to make her move tonight. Wanda marched up the steps and up to the door of the house. She opened it to see her worse nightmare had come true: Miles had opened the letters.

Unaware Wanda stood watching them, Trey and Miles still sat in the pile of hundreds of opened letters, laughing and reading them time and time again. Miles began rummaging through the pile.

"Look Trey, an unopened one!" Miles exclaimed. "You open this one"

Trey smiled and pushed the letter back to Miles, "No. It's yours. They're all yours."

"No Trey you open it. I don't want you to think it's all about me. You're my brother and I want you to share this moment with me."

Trey smiled and took the letter. The envelope read:

Mr. Miles Warren Cassidy

254 Drysdale Road

Waller Creek, Mississippi 39355

FINAL NOTICE

The back of the envelope had a cranberry seal and in the center was a four leaf clover shaped blue shield with an odd looking creature on each leaf. Trey ripped the through the sticker, pulled out the letter printer on thick paper and began to read:

Dear Mr. Cassidy,

With great honor, we are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to attend the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Students are expected to arrive at Mount Greylock Train Station on the 25th of August, no later than 4 p.m.

Correspondence only required if students choose an "alternate" magical education and will not be attending I.S.W.W.

Attached is standard material and equipment list.

Happy Learning,

Matilda Kalander

Dean of Students

Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Trey tossed the letter on the stack with the others and shared a smile with his brother.

"You're a wizard," Trey said beaming.

"I'm a wizard" Miles replied back.

Miles smile faded as he realized a very important fact. The day after tomorrow was the 25th.

"Trey I have to be at school in two days and we don't even know how to get there or get any of the crazy stuff on this list.

"We are going to figure it out. We are going to get you there no matter..."

The door slammed hard. The boys looked up and saw their mother standing there. Her face was blank. She was covered in dirt and grass. There was a red ring of blood on the bottom of her white nursing shoes. She dropped her bags with a loud thud and began to walk towards the boys.

"No matter what huh?" Wanda said, " You just gone run off and work for the goddamn devil no matter what I say."

Trey stood up and Miles ran behind him.

"You can't do this to him," Trey said with a tremble of fear in his voice, "You can't take away his power"

Miles shuddered behind Trey as their mother crept closer and closer. After a few steps, she was face to face with Trey and in the blink of an eye, she backhanded him to the floor. Miles screamed and jumped onto the nearby couch. Wanda rushed at him and grabbed him around his neck and then threw him to the floor. Trey, whose mouth was gushing blood, lay paralyzed with fear across the room. He watched as his mother pinned his brother to the floor with her forearm while straddling his body.

"Mama!" pleaded Miles, "What are you doing to me?!"

"I am sending a message to that godforsaken school," she said with a crazed look in her eye.

She continued to hold Miles as she grabbed one of the hundreds of letters on the living room floor. She patted around the floor until she found a dusty pen from under the couch. After a few scratches across the paper, the ink began to appear. Wanda flipped Miles over onto his stomach and forced the pen in his hand. She then forced him to write out:

I, Miles Cassidy, hereby reject my invitation to attend Ilvermorny and forfeit my right to further use of my magical powers.

Wanda grabbed the letter in one hand, then rose to her feet and drug Miles along with her. He kicked and screamed and screamed and kicked but it was no use. Mama was stronger. Trey lay balled up in the corner of the room, tears streaming down his face at a steady rate, still unable to move and help his brother. Flashbacks of the same thing happening to him six years ago filled his mind. Every second of Miles's screaming reminded him of his own. He avoided eye contact with the innocent child screaming for his help only a few feet away. He just continued to look down at the pile of letters and continued to cry.

Miles continued to fight. His mother had him underneath his arms dragging him into the kitchen.

"No! Let me go! Please!" He pleaded.

Wanda did not hear him. She just kept dragging him until they reached the sink. She slammed the letter down on the counter and then began fumbling through the drawers. Holding Miles with one arm was getting tiring and she needed to find what she was looking for sooner. There it was. Wanda pulled the sharp ice pick from the drawer. She readjusted Miles body until the point where she had her arm going around his neck and under one of his shoulders. She leaned her body weight over on the counter, pressing one of Miles' arms between her and the counter. Miles loud screams had turned to quiet pleas between gut wrenching sobs. Wanda still couldn't hear him.

All she heard was herself. Save him! You have to save him from this evil! She gripped the wooden handle of the ice pick tight, took a deep breath and then with an exhale plunged it into Miles' hand. He cried extremely loud. Trey completely twisted himself into the fetal position and sobbed just as loud as his little brother. Wanda withdrew the bloody icepick and shoved it into Miles' other hand. She placed it on the letter and forced Miles to sign his name...in his own blood.

She released Miles and he fell to the floor in pain, gripping the bleeding hand. Wanda, eyes wide with pride, held the letter up high and blew on it ever so slightly as to dry her weeping son's blood. Just as she had done six years ago. I did it Lord. I saved them both. She folded the letter into threes and stuffed it in one of the many return envelopes scattered across the floor. Wanda then stood in between the two rooms, where both of her crying sons could see her, and held up the envelope.

"I'm gone place this on the porch in the morning and one of those devils owls is gone come get it. Then after that, we're free. No more sin. No more of this witchcraft and devil worship. This family will finally be worthy of God's love. Don't y'all wanna be loved?" Wanda pleaded. Her sons, both laying in the same position just looked away from her and silently sobbed. She clutched the letter in both hands and her blank expression returned.

"Well I do!" she shouted "And I'm gone receive his love. No matter what. Now clean up all this trash and go to bed"

Wanda kicked the letters out of her path as she walked by her eldest son, who at this point was sobbing louder than Miles. She leaned down and looked him over for a few seconds.

"You should have known better" she sneered at Trey. She then looked up and saw Miles was no longer crying but staring at her dead on. Her throat felt tight and her stomach felt like it was twisting itself into knots.

"I know what you're trying to do, but it's not gone work!" Wanda screamed as she ran out of the room.

After a few hours, Miles picked himself up off the floor. He went over to the sink and rinsed the dried blood from his hand. The water stung almost as bad as the initial wound but he didn't flinch as he was too angry about his future being snatched away just as soon as it had changed for the better. He tied a kitchen towel around his hand and began to clean up the room. He got a large black trash bag from a nearby drawer and began to fill it with his letters from Ilvermorny. Soon the living room was clean, all except for Trey, who still lay on the ground. Trey had stopped crying as well but could not bring himself to speak or to move for the matter. Miles shoved his body slightly to get the letters from beneath him and continued to straighten the room.

Miles climbed into his bed and looked up at the blank ceiling above. He stared at it for a while, hoping that he could fall asleep. He finally rolled over and looked at the nearby alarm clock. It read 11:57. He sighed a sigh of relief as this horrible day was almost over and his birthday was minutes away. Just as he was about to doze off, a light tapping came to the door.

"Come in," Miles said wondering who was about to come through the door.

In came Trey, holding a small box about the size of a book. He walked over and sat at the end of Miles' bed.

"You know I didn't forget about your birthday," said Trey handing the box to Miles.

Miles lethargically opened it. Once out of the box his eyes lit up as it was a book he had never heard of before.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The book looked worn and used but Miles, like any avid reader, knew that meant it was a good one. He flipped open the front cover and saw messages, the kind you see in yearbooks. He also doodles of a mysterious looking snake and the letters H.S. accompanying them. Under the snake drawings he saw a name followed by a year:

William Cassidy Jr - Ilvermorny '97

"Trey...was this..." Miles muttered.

"Yes. This was dad's" Trey answered, "He used to read it to me when I was younger before he died. It's filled with stories of all types of weird animals, but in all honestly it kinda feels more like a textbook than a storybook. That's why I thought you might like it"

Miles' smile returned and he clutched the book tight.

"Now get some sleep. Everything will be fine in the morning" Trey said hugging his little brother tight.

Miles laid back in the bed and soon he was asleep.

Miles could have sworn he heard knocking and hammering. But he figured it was Trey, doing his usual tinkering to ease his stress. A few hours later, Miles felt violent shaking, he awoke to see Trey standing at the end of his bed.

"What's going on?" Miles asked half asleep.

"We're getting you to Ilvermorny" Trey said as he began throwing Miles' clothes into a medium sized duffle bag. Miles was awake now and he hopped out of the bed.

"Here put this on," Trey said throwing a pair of Jeans and t-shirt at Miles. He wasted no time changing out of his pajamas.

"How are we going to get there? asked Miles as he threw Fantastic Beasts at Trey to make sure he didn't forget to pack it.

"I got a plan, but I need your help," Trey said zipping up the bag.

The brothers stood in the doorway of their mother's room and watched her snore. Miles's rejection letter was clutched tight to her chest.

"What do you want me to do again" Miles whispered.

"Get the letter" Trey replied

"How?!"

"How do you think...with your magic"

Miles swallowed hard. How was he supposed to use a skill he only discovered he had yesterday? But he had to get that letter and he had to get the heck out of Waller Creek, Mississippi.

"Concentrate hard" Trey coached.

Miles focused on the letter but nothing moved. He tried again only this time, leaving his forehead in throbbing pain.

"Put your arms out or something, like in the movies" Trey suggested. Miles didn't think it would work but he extended one of his hands and tried again. Nothing.

"Come on I know you can do this. When I got my letter I could do little stuff all the time. All I had to do was try to make myself laugh...oh my god" Trey said realizing the error of his coaching.

"Miles, every time something magical happened, how did you feel?" He asked.

Miles looked down at the rag tied around his hand and answered, "Angry."

Miles looked back up at his mother. He focused all his anger from the last 24 hours and in the blink of an eye, the letter flew straight into Trey's hands. The brothers silently high-fived each other and snuck out of the room.

Wanda sleeping soundly for the first time since the letters came, started to scratch her nose as she smelled smoke. She blinked open her eyes to see a small orange flame flickering outside her window. She jumped to her feet.

"Boys. Boys! Wake up! It's a fire" she yelled as she ran around the room in circles searching for her shoes and then she realized...the letter was gone. She ran out of her room, through the living room and out the front door. She stopped in the doorway as she saw the letter burning on a top of a pile of trash. Wanda almost ran over to it then she was distracted by the sound of an engine trying to turn over. She looked and saw the boys sitting in the front seat of the car, both looking as if they had seen a ghost. Wanda started walking towards the car.

Trey continued to start the car again and again. Wanda was almost to the hood when Trey looked over at Miles and shouted, "Do something!" Wanda made it to the car and slammed her hands down on the hood, startling Miles.

"Get it out this car now" Wanda demanded. Trey knowing he needed to act quick, did the only thing that came to mind. He squeezed his little brother's sore hand. Miles growled and clinched his other fist tight. The old car shook to life.

"That's what I'm talking about baby" shouted Trey as he shifted the car into reverse and floored the gas pedal. Once far enough from Wanda, he dropped the gear into drive and sped out of the yard and down the dark dirt road. Wanda ran full speed behind them until she was out of breath. The boys let out a loud "Woohoo'" as all they could see was dust behind them.


End file.
